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Former deputy IDF chief Dan Harel enters political arena

The Israeli general best known for leading the country’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005 joined Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai’s new party.

Dan Harel, then-director-general of the Defense Ministry, at a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem on Nov. 18, 2015. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
Dan Harel, then-director-general of the Defense Ministry, at a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem on Nov. 18, 2015. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, who recently established the “Israelis Party” to run in the upcoming Knesset elections, announced on Tuesday that his slate will include a high-ranking defense-establishment official and four female candidates, pledging that half of the faction’s candidates will be women.

Huldai announced that Dan Harel, former director-general of the Defense Ministry and Israeli Defense Forces ex-deputy chief of staff, will be joining his faction. Harel, a former commander of the Southern Command, is perhaps best known for leading Israel’s 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

Also joining Huldai’s parliamentary bid are former Blue and White Knesset member Einav Kabala, information scientist Karine Nahon, educator Karen Tal and Adi Tsabari, head of the Education, Culture and Neighborhood Renewal Company in Tel Aviv, which manages numerous institutions in the city.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.

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